Impoliteness and Power: An Interlanguage Pragmatic Approach to the Use of Impolite Patterns in Terms of Power

Although studies on pragmatics in general and politeness in particular abound in the literature, impoliteness has been largely ignored. In the present study, participants filled out either the Persian or English version of a discourse completion test (DCT). The researchers analyzed collected answers to discover the relationship between impoliteness and power. Furthermore, the researchers compared responses to the Persian version with responses to the English version to see if they diverge regarding the relationship between impoliteness and power. According to the number of impoliteness strategies used, the results show that though there is a positive relationship between impoliteness and power in Persian, there is no relationship in English responses. In comparing the mentioned relationship in two languages, there is a significant difference between them. This led to the conclusion that the learners did not realize the relationship between impoliteness and power in English, whereas in answering the Persian DCT their answers showed the recognition of that relationship.